State balks on nursing home

Plans for new Albany County facility iced by panel over finances

Updated 9:03 am, Friday, April 6, 2012

June Maniscalco, left, sits with Renee Barchitta and Roger Barchitta, all supporters or the Albany County Nursing Home, as they listen during a hearing Thursday in Albany put on by the Committee on Establishment and Project Review on the fate of the facility. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

June Maniscalco, left, sits with Renee Barchitta and Roger...

Jeffrey Kraut, second from right chairs a hearing Thursday in Albany put on by the Committee on Establishment and Project Review on the fate of the Albany County Nursing Home. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)

Jeffrey Kraut, second from right chairs a hearing Thursday in...

June Maniscalco, left, sits with Renee Barchitta and Roger Barchitta, all supporters or the Albany County Nursing Home, as they listen during a hearing Thursday in Albany put on by the Committee on Establishment and Project Review on the fate of the facility. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

June Maniscalco, left, sits with Renee Barchitta and Roger...

Michael Perrin, Deputy Albany County Executive addresses the gathering during a hearing in Albany, N.Y. put on by the Committee on Establishment and Project Review on the fate of the Albany County Nursing Home April 5, 2012. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)

Michael Perrin, Deputy Albany County Executive addresses the...

The Albany County Nursing Home in Colonie, N.Y. April 5, 2012. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)

The Albany County Nursing Home in Colonie, N.Y. April 5, 2012....

The Albany County Nursing Home in Colonie, N.Y. April 5, 2012. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)

The Albany County Nursing Home in Colonie, N.Y. April 5, 2012....

The Albany County Nursing Home in Colonie, N.Y. April 5, 2012. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)

The Albany County Nursing Home in Colonie, N.Y. April 5, 2012....

A hearing convened in Albany, N.Y. April 5, 2012 by the Committee on Establishment and Project Review to discuss the fate of the Albany County Nursing Home. (Skip Dickstein/Times Union)

ALBANY — Plans for the construction of a new county nursing home stalled again Thursday when the state panel with the power to bless the project told county officials to come back with better answers about the future finances of the facility.

But opponents of the proposed 200-bed complex contend taxpayers cannot shoulder a projected $26 million loss at the facility every year for the benefit of so few people — a budget gap one panel member said could as much as double in future years.

"How is this going to be paid for?" Howard Fensterman, downstate lawyer and member of the council's Committee on Establishment and Project Review, asked. "What we have here starting, coming out of the gate, is a $26 million deficit."

Fensterman also pressed Deputy County Executive Michael Perrin on why the county had not studied the potential for the annual losses to increase in the future and what would happen to the county's willingness to bankroll the facility if they did.

"I can't predict what the executive or legislature would do if that number goes up by 10 bucks or ten million," Perrin acknowledged.

The $26 million figure — though disputed by the leaders of the County Legislature's Democratic majority — seems to remain at the heart of the council's reluctance to green-light the project and reveals perhaps a philosophical division among its members.

One panel member questioned whether it's the council's job to determine whether building the facility is a wise decision, or merely whether it meets the criteria for approval.

The panel also directed county officials to further explore alternatives proposed by County Executive Dan McCoy since he took office January — which include building a new county-run facility, privatizing it's management or entire operation or handing control over to a public-private partnership known as a public benefit corporation.

McCoy, who has publicly said he prefers the latter, said he was disappointed with the deferral but acknowledged it would allow more time to research those options.

"At the end of the day, it's not what I want, it's what the residents of Albany County want," he said.

Thursday marked the second time in six months that the panel balked at approving the project, leaving its supporters frustrated but pleased not to have been rebuffed outright.

If nothing else, County Comptroller Michael Conners said, the delay gives officials time to strengthen their case and formally challenge the controversial $26 million loss figure.

The number comes from the county's own application to the state Health Department for a certificate of need, the state's assessment that a new health care facility is viable and meets a community need.

But the nursing home's most ardent supporters in the County Legislature contend that number is inflated — perhaps double what the actual loss might be — and that the application was hindered by an inability to get accurate information from the administration of the then-county executive, Michael Breslin, who wanted to shutter the nursing home in favor of more in-home care.

"The entire process is New York State's version of Kabuki theater," Conners said. "This represents an opportunity for the county executive and the legislature to present their case and numbers. ... This is one of the most important public policy decisions the legislature will make, and the more accurate the information, the better the decision."

Still, not everyone greeted the delay with dismay.

County Legislator Richard Mendick was among the lawmakers who spoke against the project in hopes that the panel would require the county to submit a new financial analysis prepared by an independent authority.

While the council imposed no such requirement, Mendick, a Conservative Party member from Selkirk, said more scrutiny can only benefit taxpayers.

County Legislature Chairman Shawn Morse, among the most vocal supporters of the project, said the county would have no choice but to try to supply the state the information it's looking for, even if he disdains the process.

"It's really the county government that should be making these decisions, not another level of bureaucracy that has so far cost us hundreds of thousands in planning and delays," Morse said. "Why does a guy in Queens or Long Island have any business in deciding what's best for Albany, New York?"